PSE trading canceled on January 4 due to technical glitch

MANILA, Philippines – A technical glitch hit the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, January 4, forcing the cancellation of trading altogether.

The market had failed to open as scheduled at 9:30 am. Shortly before 1:30 pm, the PSE announced it already canceled trading for the day.

PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon cited “technical problems encountered in establishing connection between the Nasdaq trading engine and the Flextrade front-end system.”

“PSE continues to work and coordinate closely with representatives of Nasdaq and Flextrade to identify the underlying cause of the above-described production issue and come up with the appropriate solution,” added Monzon.

“We are sorry about this unfortunate incident and we are exerting all efforts to resolve the problem.”

In an earlier memorandum on Tuesday, Monzon said 43 out of the PSE’s 125 trading participants were “unable to connect to the exchange’s trading engine.”

Under PSE rules, the local bourse can halt trading if at least one-third of the participants cannot access the trading system.

The PSE normally follows this schedule:

• 9 am – Pre-open
• 9:30 am – Market open
• 12 pm – Market recess
• 1 pm – Market resumption
• 2:45 pm – Pre-close
• 2:50 pm – Run-off
• 3 pm – Market close

– Rappler.com